Flaky's Birthday
by TheArtistGirl
Summary: Flaky is hosting a birthday party for her 19th birthday. Her birthday's have never gone well in the past, so, she's hoping this one will. But her friend Giggles is persuading her to invite Flippy, which to Flaky, would be disastrous. She doesn't invite him, but when he ends up coming anyway, things can either go good, bad, or absolutely terrible. I DON'T OWN HTF! Flippy x Flaky!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Invitation

Sunny, friendly, and quaint. That's how things usually were around Happy Tree Town… until something goes wrong and it ends in brutal deaths to most of its residents. But the village has this curse that brings back its residents shortly afterwards, so, everyone always lived. Still, death was painful around here and sad every single time, so, there's that to think about. But some days they were spared of a potential bloodbath, but most days not. Kind of sad, really. Nevertheless, everyone kept their friends and family close and as safe as they could.

Today was a day of invitation, and it will invite many things.

Flaky, a red, dandruff shedding porcupine, was passing out envelopes to all of her friends.

"You'll be there, won't you, Giggles?" she asked the pink chipmunk in the red bow.

Giggles nodded and chuckled at her friend in red.

"Of course! You're my friend, Flaky." she told her in her usual, bubbly tone.

"Great," Flaky said happily.

"Who else are you inviting?" Giggles inquired.

"Well, Petunia, Handy, Cro-Marmot, my mom, dad, brother, and sister are coming from their homes to see me, Nutty, and Cuddles. And a few others that I can't really think of right now, but, yeah." Flaky answered.

"And what about Flippy? Aren't you gonna invite him?" Giggles asked, raising an eyebrow.

That name seemed to trigger something in Flaky, because the red porcupine jerked and sweat beads glazed the side of her forehead. Giggles noticed that Flaky seemed off and it didn't take a genius to figure out why.

"Oh, no! Don't you even think about not inviting him!" the pink chipmunk snapped.

"Remember what happened last time he was at a party?!"

"Remember why that party was thrown?!"

"I just wanted to do something nice for him! I realize that it was a mistake and I won't do it again!

"How can you say those things?! I thought you two were friends!"

Flaky opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out except a slight squeak. Then she lowered her black, Pac-Man shaped eyes along with her hand.

'Friends, huh?' the red, dandruff-emblazoned porcupine thought flatly.

There was an abundance of silence between the two rodents so all you could hear was the birds tweeting and the small breeze.

 _Don't get me wrong… I love hanging out with Flippy._

Flaky thought about when she had first met Flippy. It was in kindergarten and he had stood up for her after Lifty and Shifty had ripped her drawing just for their amusement. They became good friends and hung out frequently. However, when Flippy was 18, he left for the war to help fulfill a promise of some sort, leaving Flaky and the rest of their friends in the village. When he returned back to the village, Flaky and the others were happy, but then his PTSD started showing up and that made his evil side come out and… well, bringing murder with him. He had done everything he could to murder the people around him; strangling, torturing, running them over, and even using his military skills and tools to do so.

 _He's even killed me… He's strangled me, burned me, and done other things._

She thought back to when she threw him a party and she was puffed up like a balloon after swallowing peanuts by accident. She saw that he saw her after he had flipped out, but he didn't kill her then.

 _Probably because it's military code to not fight someone who can't fight back… Even though his evil side was out. I guess not even_ _ **he**_ _can be totally heartless._

Flaky shook herself free of her thoughts and rubbed her temples in a tired way.

"Even so, what if he snaps and kills everyone there? I know we'll be resurrected the next day, but… I want just one, perfect birthday where nothing goes wrong." she whispered.

Giggles lowered her eyes in understanding.

 _All of my birthdays haven't exactly been fine and dandy over the years. My parents have either missed them or something else went wrong._

"I understand… But you should at least try and talk to Flippy and see if you guys still have something." Giggles advised.

Flaky lifted her head up and nodded hesitantly. Even though she didn't really want to, she had to tell Giggles she would to get her off of her case about it. Truth be told, she was too afraid to continue her friendship with Flippy, and deep down, and I mean waaaay deep down, she knew she was being a selfish coward and only thinking of herself. But her fear wasn't letting her listen to her conscience at all! Well, almost at all… She started to listen to what it said:

 _He was my very first friend... And he's been nothing but kind to me ever since that day we met in kindergarten… So, maybe I should-_

Then there was the sound of footsteps. And it sounded like it was heading in hers and Giggles' direction. She was scared to see who it was, but Giggles wasn't, so, she turned around and looked for the porcupine girl. Conveniently, it was in fact Flippy.

(A/N: Convenience… we are nothing without it…)

Giggles smirked and eyed Flippy. She then glanced back at Flaky, getting an idea.

"Hey, Flippy, over here!" the pink chipmunk called in a singsong voice.

Flaky jerked again and waved her hands back and forth in a panicking state.

"No, no, no! Shh!" she whisper-yelled.

But it was too late, and Flippy had already seen the two girls, and he seemed very happy that he did, because he was smiling widely with his Pac-Man shaped eyes wide as well. The soldier ran over to his friends and greeted them happily.

"Hey, girls," he said with a laugh.

Flaky hid behind Giggles, hoping and praying to God that he wouldn't see her.

However, he saw a short trail of dandruff leading behind Giggles, letting Flippy know that she was behind the younger critter. Flippy knew deep down why Flaky was hiding from him, but he still insisted on trying to get her to open up and be comfortable around him just like when they were kids. So, these efforts made him slightly in denial about everyone's reasons for hiding from and/or avoiding him. Giggles winked at Flippy and waved goodbye to the green bear. Flaky's eyes were screwed shut and she had no idea that Giggles had left her with Flippy, so, he was able to see her cowering in fear. He tapped her shoulder lightly and that caused her to open her eyes and look in front of her.

When she saw who was in front of her, the red girl gasped and her pupils shrank in fear.

"Hey, Flakes, you okay?" Flippy asked politely.

She was silent and tried to avoid eye contact with the lime green soldier at all costs. Her conscience kept telling her she had to mend her relationship with him, but she didn't wanna do it now! Or, ever for that matter! This was moving way too fast for her and making her so afraid that she couldn't reply verbally. Nevertheless, she just gave a wary nod and hoped that he would leave. But he didn't…

Instead, he took a step closer to her.

'Goawaygoawaygoawaygoawaygoaway!' Flaky thought, about to burst into tears and cry.

Flippy, obviously oblivious to the red girl's feelings, continued to move closer to her.

"Flaky, I was actually just looking for you, because I wanted to ask you something." he told her.

Flaky gulped in fear and took a tiny step away from him, getting ready to run.

"I heard that your b-"

"AAAAAHHH!~"

Flippy jumped in shock at Flaky's scream and watched as she dashed away, leaving a trail of dandruff behind her. Somehow, Flaky knew, or thought she knew, what Flippy was gonna say and didn't wanna hear him say it.

'I'm sorry, Flippy!' she thought in pure guilt, tears falling from her eyes.

Flippy was frozen in place for a while, trying to figure out what just happened and why Flaky ran away before he even got to finish his sentence. When he finally gathered himself again, he hung his head sadly.

'Oh, Flaky… why do you have to always run away from me?' he wondered, feeling like he was about to cry.

But before he did, he saw an envelope on the ground and figured Flaky must've dropped it. There was some writing on it and that caught Flippy's attention so he picked it up. There was the name "Cro-Marmot" written on it in Flaky's handwriting.

Curious, Flippy looked around to make sure no one was watching him and opened the envelope to see what was inside.

It was a blue invitation that said "You're invited to a birthday party!" in yellow letters.

Flippy opened the invite and saw that it was for Flaky's birthday party! She was holding it at her house tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. and she was turning 19. Flippy somehow had a feeling that she didn't plan on inviting him, because of what happened last time he was at a birthday party; his birthday party, to be exact. Still, he felt he really needed to talk to Flaky… And now he had the knowledge of where to find her and trap her so she wouldn't run away.

Flippy then put the invitation back in the envelope and stuffed it into his coat pocket. He looked off into the distance in determination.

"Looks like I'm going to a party!"

*POP!*

*POP!*

*POP!*

These sounds caused Flippy's eye to twitch and he whimpered. Nearby, popcorn was popping and when he heard that, his eyes turned yellow and his teeth sharpened...

* * *

Done! New Story, yay! This is basically a story explaining how certain things came to be with Flippy and Flaky.

Flippy: Why do you think I like Flaky?

Just a feeling I'm getting…

R&R!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Welcome… Flippy?!

It was the day of Flaky's birthday party, which she had decided to hold on her actual date of birth. Most people hold theirs a week or two after the actual day, but Flaky wanted to do it right away. It seemed a bit odd for some of the other Tree Friends that she was throwing it _herself,_ but they didn't object. Besides, there were weirder things that went down in Happy Tree Town.

Flaky wasn't a girl who liked decorating parties with streamers and a giant banner that said "Happy Birthday", unless of course that's what a person liked at their party. But it wasn't her style, so, she just kept it simple but festive. She put out her nice tablecloths, party plates, two or three sets of balloons which came in threes, and of course, a cake. Flaky was an excellent cook who often did it for a hobby. So, instead of going to the bakery to get a cake, she made one herself. Just like she did for Flippy on his birthday.

Then, just from the mere thought of the army bear, Flaky choked and felt a lump in her throat. And it wasn't a tiny one, either. It was a big lump, and it hurt a lot! She knew this meant she was gonna cry. Though what about, she wasn't sure.

 _Is it because I feel bad about not talking to him? Is it because I miss him? Is it because I'm afraid of him and what'll happen the next time we cross paths?_

Well, whatever the reason, Flaky's big, black eyes filled up with tears and started dripping like giant drops of water. Then she choked and started to sob quietly while hanging her head and baring her teeth. The tears dripped onto her floor as she slowly fell to her knees.

"What's wrong with me?" the red porcupine girl asked herself in a wary voice.

Images of Flippy flashed through her head, causing her heart to ache and hurt so much.

Then the doorbell rang, surprising Flaky. It rang two more times and that made her panic and wipe her tears away. She stood up and went over to the door and she opened it. There, in the doorway, stood Giggles, Petunia, and Lammy. The latter was a blue skunk with a flower and deodorizer as accessory, while the third one was a lavender coloured lamb with a white wooly sweater and a purple bow.

"Hey, Flaky," Giggles greeted.

"Happy Birthday," Petunia added with a chuckle.

"Thanks for inviting us," Lammy finished.

Flaky blushed a little, even though it was kind of hard to tell since she was already red, and gestured for her friends to come in. Lammy stayed behind, a pickle in her arms.

"I hope you don't mind, I brought Mr. Pickles with me." she explained.

Flaky was a bit shaky at the sight of said pickle. One time, she went over to Lammy's house to play poker and she ended up eating Mr. Pickles and defecating him out. Then, while she was trying to unclog the toilet, he ended up killing her and flushing her corpse down the toilet. And Lammy knew that very well… So, why would she bring him with?

Flaky was about to ask just that, but Lammy answered before she even said anything.

"Don't worry, I've given him a talking to and he promised he wouldn't kill you or anyone else."

This made Flaky calm down a little. Even though she had her doubts about Lammy in the past, she knew that if anyone could control Mr. Pickles, it was her.

Flaky offered for her guests to sit in the living room and watch T.V. while they waited for everyone else.

"Okay, so, you can watch whatever you want, if you have any questions, just ask me. Now, I'm gonna go put out a snack tray for when the others arrive." she explained.

The girls nodded and turned on iCarly. Flaky smiled happily at how well things were going so far.

Soon, the rest of the guests arrived.

Handy, Cro-Marmot, Cuddles, Nutty, Sniffles, Mime, Russell, Mole, Toothy, and Lumpy all came. Even though Flaky was a bit afraid of Lumpy's stupidity getting everyone killed, she recalled when he helped her get healed when she puffed up due to her peanut allergy and wanted to return the favor.

Then, the doorbell rang again and Flaky answered it. When she saw who it was, she gasped and smiled as wide as possible.

"Mom, Dad, Damien, Sky!" she exclaimed upon seeing her family.

They all embraced and greeted each other happily.

Flaky's mom was a sky blue porcupine with blue Pac-Man eyes instead of black, blonde quills which were pulled into a ponytail and she also wore a hair pin that looked like a daisy on the side of her head. Her dad was an orange porcupine with red quills that faced upwards and they had dandruff flakes in them. Her twin brother was the spitting image of their father, except his quills were orange too and they didn't have dandruff flakes in them. Plus, he also had his mother's blue eyes. And her sister was the spitting image of their mom, except for the fact that she had black eyes and dandruff flakes like her dad and sister.

"I'm glad you guys came! I know how hard it must've been to get away from work, so, I'm extremely thankful for you coming." Flaky said to her family.

"Of course," Damien, her twin brother, said, draping his arm around her, "I wouldn't miss my little sister's birthday party for the world!"

Flaky blushed and slightly pushed her brother away. Her brother was kind of cheesy with his words and usually ended up embarrassing her with them. Of course, that was kind of the thing she loved most about him.

Flaky shifted her eyes down to Sky, her little sister. She was 10 years old and a little ball of energy.

"It's nice to see you again, Sky." she said, picking the younger porcupine up and cuddling her.

"So, how old are you, big sister?" the latter asked.

"19," her sister answered.

"And do you have a boyfriend?"

That word made Flaky blush so she looked even more red.

"Uhm… no, n-not yet. Ah-ha-ha-ha…" the porcupine girl laughed nervously.

Truth be told, Flaky never really had a crush on anybody or ever had anyone confess to her before. Giggles had tried setting her up on a blind date once, but that didn't work out so well. From then on, Flaky promised that she would find herself a partner, if there ever was gonna be a boy who would like her in that way…

Nevertheless, she directed her train of thought away from that topic and lead her family further into her house.

"Okay, so, everyone's here, we're all having a good time so far?" Flaky questioned to her houseguests.

Everyone nodded and cheered in response, making Flaky feel happy.

"Okay, so, first on our age-"

But the red girl was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell yet again. This puzzled Flaky, because she was sure all the guests she invited were already there. So, who else could be at the door.

"Hold that thought, please." she told her friends, leaving to get the door.

On the way to the door, Flaky began pondering things. Like the fact that she had another guest arriving; one that she didn't invite. Or, maybe someone was just dropping something off at her house? A package perhaps?

'But I don't remember ordering anything…' the beautiful porcupine thought.

It was a puzzler… a real puzzler indeed...

When she got to the door, she took a deep breath and turned the knob. When she pulled the door open, she gasped in shock and her blood ran cold when she saw who was at the door.

"Hey, Flaky, nice to see you again."

"F-F-F-F-FLIPPY?!"

* * *

DUN-DUN-DUUUUUN!~

Flippy: I just showed up at her house, uninvited…

Yep, you most definitely did!

R&R!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Letting the Soldier Stay

Flaky didn't know what she was gonna do. She wanted to scream bloody murder and run as far away from Flippy as possible, but she was paralyzed on the spot and couldn't move an inch. Her eyes were as wide as dinner plates, her pupils were shrunken down, her heart was racing in fear, and her teeth were bared; in other words, she was terrified!

"Flaky, are you okay?" Flippy asked, noticing Flaky's reaction.

She didn't say anything, she just stood there like a statue as if waiting for a bee to fly away.

Just as Flippy, was about to ask her again, he heard a female's voice calling.

"Flaky, who was at the door?"

And the voice's owner appeared beside the immobile Flaky and also saw Flippy in the doorway.

"Hey, Giggles," he greeted the pink chipmunk.

She smiled and her black eyes brightened up.

"Oh, Flippy! I see Flaky invited you after all."

Upon hearing this, Flippy blushed and rubbed the back of his head.

"Um, well, she didn't exactly _invite_ me. I just... came." he explained.

Giggles made an 'o' shape with her mouth and her eyes widened slightly.

"I, uh, heard that your birthday was today and I wanted to come to say…"

Flippy paused and slowly reached his hand out to Flaky, who choked and made a face like a stuck pufferfish, making the soldier withdraw his hand.

Flaky was about to fall over backwards, but Giggles went behind the porcupine girl and caught her. She shot Flippy an awkward smile and sweatdropped at him.

"Excuse us for a moment…" the pink girl chuckled nervously.

Then she took Flaky away from the door and into the latter's room.

When they were alone in her room, Giggles tried to snap Flaky out of her trance.

"Flaky, come on! Snap out of it!" the pink chipmunk yelled, snapping her fingers in front of her friend's face.

When that didn't work, Giggles made an unamused face and sighed in annoyance. She then reached into her pocket and pulled out an airhorn she got from Cuddles. She had invited him over to her house one day for a playdate and he left some things over there, including the aforementioned airhorn she was holding.

With that in mind, she plugged her ear and made the airhorn go _EEEEEOOOOOOW!~_ And that caused Flaky to shriek and dive underneath the covers of her bed. Giggles sighed and put the airhorn away.

"Sorry, Flaky, but I had to snap you out of it somehow." the pink girl said, lifting up the covers.

Flaky was shivering with her hands over her head and her dilated pupils were shifting all around the place as if looking for a possible threat.

"That's n-not the reason I'm hiding!" the red porcupine girl panicked. "Flippy's here and if he's here, then that's bad news! Please, tell him to leave, I don't want him here!"

Giggles parted her pink lips and her pupils stood in the center of her eyes.

"You're _still_ afraid of him? Flaky! He's your friend! He cares about you! If you tell him to leave, it'll hurt his feelings!" she scolded.

Flaky was about to speak but then halted when she found herself unable to object. Truth be told, she didn't like making anyone feel sad.

 _Maybe… I should let him stay?_

Then an image of Flippy flipping out at his birthday party and killing everyone flashed in her head. This made her flinch and screw her eyes shut.

'No! No! I don't have a death wish!' she snapped in her head.

Then she thought back to 9 years ago when Flippy was crying over his father's death. She remembered how much it hurt her to see him like that. Right now, Flaky was at war with herself and she didn't know what she was gonna do about it…

Giggles was able to sense the tension that loomed over Flaky and that got her to thinking of a solution.

When she reached one, she pulled Flaky out of bed and had her stand with her.

"Hey, how about this?" the pink girl suggested, "We put away all the balloons and keep several glasses of water around your house just in case we need to snap him out of it. And without the balloons, they won't accidentally pop and trigger him."

Flaky thought about it for a bit. She knew that by putting the balloons away, hers or her family's quills wouldn't pop them and cause Flippy to flip out. And even if something else made him snap, they would have something to help snap him back to normal.

It was a good strategy, but would it work? Flaky wasn't like her friend, Cuddles; she didn't like taking risks. But she didn't like making her friends feel bad even more…

After pondering and contemplating for a long time, Flaky reached her decision.

"O-Okay… I'll try the plan, Giggles." the red porcupine affirmed.

Her friend in pink beamed happily and squealed.

"Great! Now, I'll go make all the preparations while you get Flippy." Flaky jerked and her pupils dilated.

"Wait, why do _I_ have to get him?! Why can't you?" she demanded.

"If you handle the balloons, they'll end up popping anyway. Besides, I'm sure Flippy would wanna see you more than me." Giggles answered, adding a teasing tone in the end.

Flaky blushed slightly.

"Wait, what?!"

But before she could ask what she meant by that, Giggles had already exited the room.

Meanwhile…

Flippy was still standing at the door, twiddling his thumbs patiently. He hoped that Flaky would let him stay for her birthday party. He hadn't been to one ever since his last birthday party when he turned 21. He didn't really recall what happened after he started serving cake, but when they all came back to life, his party guests told him he had flipped out and killed them all.

" _How did I not see all the blood around me?" he asked._

 _Toothy shrugged in response._

" _Beats me," he added to the shrug._

" _Hey, where's Flaky, I thought she was gonna meet us all here?" Cuddles pointed out, looking around for her._

" _She said she wasn't coming…" Toothy answered his friend in yellow._

 _Upon hearing this, Flippy looked down sadly and his ears drooped. Cuddles saw this and smirked deviously._

" _Aw, that's too bad. It's breaking Flippy's little heart.~" the rabbit teased, causing the lime green bear to blush._

" _C-Cuddles!" he whined._

 _Everyone laughed in response to this._

Flippy had an extreme crush on Flaky and he had for the longest time. However, he had been really shy and never had the courage to ask her out on a date. That's why he tried going out with Giggles once, but that didn't work out. However, whenever he got enough courage to try and ask Flaky, she just ran away from him, and he knew why.

"Fliqpy…" the soldier uttered, looking into his reflection in his dog tags.

At times, Flippy simply pretended he was a normal critter and that Fliqpy didn't exist. That's why he was always so carefree, because he'd rather live his life in denial than in the truth. The awful, sad, lonely truth…

"U-Um…"

Flippy's ears perked up because he knew this familiar, meek voice. Just to confirm it was who he thought it was, he looked up at the door which was now ajar with Flaky standing in it. Both Tree Friends said nothing at first; they just stared into each other's eyes awkwardly.

'Say something! Come on, you're a tough soldier, Flippy!' he shouted at himself in his head.

But before he could say something, Flaky spoke up.

"Um… Do you… wanna come inside?" the meek porcupine asked, standing up straighter.

Flippy's clueless face then transitioned into a wide, ear-to-ear smile and his eyes widened in joy. The soldier then rushed towards his crush and squeezed her into a hug! Flaky gasped and shrieked and tried to escape his grip, but then felt the resistance drain from her. Because Flippy had just cuddled his head into her neck…

Flaky blushed a dark pink colour and her heart pounded in her chest. Soon, she lifted her shaking, shuddering arms and wrapped them around Flippy's back.

Flippy pulled away and chuckled at Flaky.

"Thanks… Come on, let's go inside." he added to the chuckle.

Flaky was lost in a daze from the hug but then snapped back to reality and followed the veteran inside her house.

What had she gotten herself into?

* * *

Done! Flaky's "stuck pufferfish face" is actually the same face Lagoona Blue makes when her stage fright acts up in "The Great Scarrier Reef".

Shadow: Yeah, that face was so funny.

Don't be mean, Shadow.

Shadow: Sorry…

R&R!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Games We Shall Play

Well, they did it…

Giggles put away the balloons, much to Cuddles and Toothy's chagrin because they both loved balloons, and Flaky, after inviting Flippy in, set up several glasses of water around her house in case something else caused him to flip.

The veteran bear noticed this and he knew why they were doing that. He didn't object, however. He didn't wanna flip out and ruin Flaky's birthday.

Once the task was complete, Giggles went to join the other guests in the room, leaving Flaky with Flippy again…

"Um… so, uh… You wanna c-come in and see everyone?" the timid porcupine girl offered.

Flippy nodded and smiled.

When they went into the living room, everyone looked up and saw Flaky and Flippy. Cuddles was the first to jump up and great his lime green friend.

"Hey, Flip! I'm so glad you could make it!" the yellow rabbit cheered.

They both exchanged high-fives and chuckled with each other.

Flaky felt a twinge of jealousy; she felt so envious that Cuddles still managed to maintain his friendship with Flippy despite the fact that he was of of Fliqpy's most frequent victims.

Next to Giggles of course...

She didn't think she could ever be that brave…

Everyone else greeted Flippy and said hi to him and everything. Even Mime, who wasn't exactly Flippy's friend, was nice enough to give him a wave and a smile. Flippy saluted the deer in response. He remembered that he was once working at the library and he was constantly annoyed by Mime's noisiness. You'd think a mime would've been the most silent guy in the building…

When Flippy saw Flaky's family, he dashed over and gave them the friendliest of greetings.

"Flippy? Is that you? We haven't seen you in years!" Daisy, Flaky's mom, said in a surprised tone.

Since Flippy and Flaky were childhood friends, the latter's family knew the former quite well. But when Flaky moved out and got a place of her own, her family moved out of Happy Tree Town. And this was about two years after Flippy left for the war. Flaky and Flippy were two years apart in age, but they stayed in the same grades and classes together all their lives since the grade system was a little different in this town.

Flippy fought in the war for 2 ½ years and returned back home when he was twenty. Now, he's 21, and to be clear, Flippy hasn't seen Flaky's family in 3 years! Last time he saw them, Sky was only 7 years old and now, she's ten! Now, Flaky and her brother are both nineteen.

"Yeah, looks like you survived the war after all." Damien teased, punching Flippy lightly on the shoulder.

"Yeah, and I got to come home to see all my friends. Gosh, they had all grown up so much over just 2 ½ years!" the green bear chuckled.

"And so have you guys! Sky is already in the double digits, too!"

As if on cue, the small porcupine girl skipped over to Flippy with a big smile on her face.

"Yeah, I'm all grown up now!" she sang.

"Are you too grown up for me to pick you up?" Flippy asked in a teasing tone.

"No, never!" Sky said, jumping up and down expectantly.

The soldier granted her request and lifted her up into the air easily. He was very strong and muscular, so, lifting up the blonde porcupine girl wasn't much of a chore. Sky giggled in response; she remembered when she was really little and Flippy used to come over for visits and playdates with her sister, he treated her like a little sister and she treated him like a big brother.

As Flaky watched as her family talked to Flippy, she smiled. But then her smile faded in guilt. Even her family was being friendly with the soldier, and all she's been is a coward. It was incredibly insensitive… Even though they didn't know about his mental disorder and his other half, they still treated him like family. Even those who knew treated him better! But her?

 _I'm just being selfish…_

Maybe… she should've just given him an invitation?

Just then, a memory of them playing hide and seek flashed in her head. She remembered how she was the one who invited him to play with her, Petunia, and Toothy. She remembered how it all went downhill when he strangled her with piano wire.

She also recalled when he was walking through the woods and they invited him to sit at the fire with them. He ended up disemboweling Cuddles, strangling Giggles, and burning Flaky, herself, alive in the fire.

 _No, no, no! I'm being reasonable and protecting myself! That's all there is to it!_

Flaky looked around after coming back to terms with reality and saw that Flippy was still talking to her family. Soon after, some more of the guests went over to join the conversation.

'Everyone here must either be the bravest or the stupidest people ever…' Flaky thought bitterly, her eyes clouding up.

The red porcupine girl looked over at a table that had several board games. She recalled buying them a week or two ago so she'd have something to do with her company whenever they came over. Today, she set them out for her guests to play.

She had "Sorry", "Go Fish", "Chutes and Ladders", and "Twister".

"Hey, everyone?" Flaky spoke up, catching everyone's attention. "Who wants to play a game?"

Cuddles and Toothy were the first two critters to jump up and cheer. They were pretty much teenagers trapped in adult bodies. Pretty much everyone here were all adults but they often acted like children. Doing things like playing on playgrounds, going to school from time to time, and putting on school plays.

And playing board games, but that's something for all ages.

The first choice for everyone was Twister. Flaky hadn't played that game for quite a while, so, she wasn't sure how to play it. But, that's why there are instructions!

Once she read them over, Flaky deduced a strategy for the gameplay: A partner system.

"Okay, you can choose a Twister partner and we'll have two pairs per round. Lumpy, you can be the referee." the red porcupine girl explained.

Lumpy clapped and laughed his idiotic laughter. Flaky rolled her big, black eyes at the older Tree Friend; he was just so silly sometimes…

Cuddles chose Toothy to be his partner, Lammy chose Mime, Petunia chose Giggles, Nutty chose Sniffles, and Mole chose Russell. Handy and Cro-Marmot sat out, being's as neither of them could play such a game given their conditions. But Flaky, being a nice hostess, gave each of them an activity to do instead.

She gave Cro-Marmot a movie to watch on her portable DVD player that she got last year for Christmas. And Handy? She gave him a root beer float to drink since she knew he liked that particular beverage.

"Sorry, but I can't think of any other things for you to do, Handy…" Flaky said, feeling slightly bad for reminding him he was an amputee.

But the orange beaver just gave her an awkward smile in reassurance.

"Oh, it's alright. It's not like there's anything anyone can do about it…" he chuckled.

Then he tried to grab the glass to drink the root beer, but then frowned and pulled his signature look when remembered he lacked hands.

"Oh, here!" Flaky said, putting a straw in the glass.

Handy thanked her and began to indulge in his treat.

Flaky smiled pleasantly; she and Handy had a pretty neutral relationship. One time, she gave him a ride somewhere. But that ended in her quills growing and puncturing the orange amputee and killing him. It was an accident, but Flaky still felt bad about it, and that's why she invited him.

" _It wasn't your fault, Flaky." Handy said, tapping his nub on her shoulder._

" _Well… Okay, if you say so…" Flaky replied._

 _But still, she felt guilty…_

Flaky felt someone tap her shoulder.

She turned around and froze into a statue when she saw Flippy standing in front of her again.

"That was really nice of you, Flakes." the soldier said sincerely.

"Oh… thank you…" she mumbled, barely audible.

The two critters just stood there, not saying a word and often giving each other a few awkward glances. Flaky was hoping at any given time, he'd leave. Not just her, but the party. She didn't want him here, in her house, or around her.

Flippy, on the other paw, was hoping Flaky would say something. He wanted to always be by her side and never leave her again.

But both of them were making each other's wishes impossible! Flaky was too cowardly and timid to say something to tell him to leave, and Flippy was so needy that he probably wouldn't leave even if she asked.

Of course, Flaky had no idea that he was needy and merely thought that he was only trying to talk to her because he still believed they were friends. And that made Flaky feel guilty; because she was lying to him all the time.

But at the same time, she thought it was completely necessary to do that. Because she wanted to protect herself. She _had_ to protect herself!

And what Flippy said next, did not help that process in the least.

"Hey, I don't have a Twister partner and you don't, either. So, you wanna be mine?"

Flaky twitched and her pupils dilated. She could feel her bloodstream run with cold blood and her heart froze right inside her chest area. She was just about to scream again, but when Cuddles toppled over on the Twister board, he rolled into Flaky and caused her to fall forward! Right into Flippy…

The red porcupine girl had fallen right into the lime green bear's arms. He held her tightly with a pink blush mark on his cheeks. And Flaky was on full panic mode right now! She did _not_ want to be this close to Flippy. And to make matters worse, for her, anyway, he took it as a confirmation to his request.

"I'll take that as a yes," he chuckled, petting her quills.

Flaky blushed hard and her heart pounded mercilessly.

'Oh, boy…' she thought, squeezing her eyes shut.

After Russell and Mole had their turn, it was Flaky and Flippy's turn. And the former was in no mood to play anymore. But it was her own fault for not speaking up sooner.

 _Thanks a lot, Cuddles…_

"Okay, looks like the first move for my favourite neighbor is left hand red." Lumpy ordered.

"Thanks, Lumpy," Flippy chuckled, doing just that.

"And, I'm your only neighbor."

Everyone laughed at that; sometimes that moose's stupidity was funny. You know, when it doesn't get them killed…

"Okay, now Flaky, you have right hand yellow," Lumpy told the younger critter.

Flaky nodded and took her place on the mat while placing her hand on the appointed spot. Flippy and her were now sitting next to each other, both feeling awkward.

Flippy's next move was right hand, blue. Next, Flaky had left hand red, Flippy, left foot green, Flaky, left foot yellow, Flippy, right foot blue, and-

"Um…"

Flaky's face was stained a brilliant magenta colour and Flippy's was stained a dark red. Flaky's back was arched and Flippy was hovering over her. His hand was getting tired, and the fact that he was in a suggestive position with the girl he was in love with, wasn't helping his stability at all!

Flaky, meanwhile, was trying her best not to scream. She might cause a scene or make Flippy flip out. So, all she could do was tremble and hold herself up. She tried closing her eyes, but they just popped back open.

Everyone else was wide eyed and trying not to laugh at the scene. Not only was it funny, but it was positively adorable! Especially for Giggles.

"Aw, isn't this just perfect?~" the pink chipmunk squealed.

She was holding her phone out and there was the sound of a shutter going off. She was taking pictures!

"W-Wait a second! Giggles!" Flippy panicked.

But the veteran's outburst caused him to lose his balance and he fell onto Flaky. Accidentally pressing his lips to her cheek…

Flaky gasped in a high pitched tone and her breath staggered. She couldn't believe Flippy was this close to her _and_ kissing her cheek! But she held in her screams and screwed her eyes shut.

Everyone chuckled and blushed at the scene.

"Oh, my…" Giggles tittered.

She took one more picture before rushing over to help Flippy.

Once the lime green soldier was back up on his feet, he was dazed. His face was still red, his heart was pounding, and he felt like flying.

'Too bad it wasn't on the lips… I bet Flaky's lips taste like an angel's.' he thought.

Then he remembered about Flaky! He looked back at the Twister mat where the porcupine girl was still laying. She was making her "stuck puffer fish" face again and small, uncomfortable noises were emanating from her mouth.

Flippy and Petunia pulled her up onto her feet, but Flaky still remained immobile. It was like she was turned to stone…

"Flakes? Are you alright?" Flippy asked, waving his hand in front of her face.

Still nothing…

The soldier looked around for something to snap his crush out of her trance. When he spotted one of the many glasses of water that were placed around the house, he smiled in determination.

"Damien, get me that water please?" Flippy asked.

The orange porcupine nodded and did just that. Flippy threw the water into Flaky's face, causing the red Tree Friend to jump and shriek in shock. She was so scared, she toppled backwards into the snack table and caused the bowl of ranch dressing to spill onto her head. Everyone gasped and covered their mouths as the white dressing dribbled down the birthday girl's face and chest.

"Flaky, are you… alright?" her father asked, reaching out to her.

Flaky was silent for a while, but then she started to whimper. She had never been so humiliated in all her life! She could no longer hold in her sobs, and she started crying like a banshee. Everyone else was clamouring in shock, trying to figure out what to do for her.

But before anyone could act, Flaky stood up and ran down the hall to her bathroom and slammed to door shut!

The party guests were all shocked and they could hear muffled sobbing noises as well. Poor Flaky, this all happened on her birthday, too…

It was clear that something needed to be done, and everyone knew that, too. But Giggles was the first one to speak up.

"Okay, let's all calm down for a while," she commanded. "Lammy, you and Petunia help me clean up this mess, Handy fix the table cloth, and Flippy?"

She paused and that was the soldier's cue to step up and listen.

"Yes, Giggles?" he asked, standing up stiffly.

"You go and check on Flaky, okay?"

This order made Flippy's heart skip a beat.

"But, shouldn't one of us go and see her, instead?" Damien cut in.

He gestured to himself and his family. But Giggles shook her head.

"No, Flippy's the one who splashed water in her face and made her topple over." the pink girl stated. "It's obvious that he should be the one to go see her."

Flippy sighed and flatly agreed with her. While he wanted to see Flaky and apologize, he was worried she would hate him for the reason he had to apologize in the first place.

While everyone else was preoccupied with the mess, Giggles took Flippy aside to talk to him, _tete-a-tete_.

"Look, I know you're worried about what Flaky will think about you," the former whispered. "But you two need to stop running from each other. This whole " one-sided, unrequited love" bullcrap has to stop! It's driving me nuts, for God's sake!"

Flippy's face turned bright pink.

"Huh?! What on Earth are you talking about?!" he stammered.

"Wow, you are the second worst liar I've ever met." Giggles groaned. "Come on, Flippy! I know how you feel about Flaky! Everyone does, even Lumpy; and he's the town's biggest idiot!"

Flippy was about to ask how she knew about his feelings for the porcupine girl, but then he remembered that Giggles was the town's "love doctor". If there was anyone to talk to about romance, it was her. So, it would stand to reason that she would know about who was in love with who around here.

"Okay, you got me… I love her so much!" Flippy admitted, clutching his aching heart.

"I get that. And that's another reason why you should be the one to go into the bathroom to see if she's okay." Giggles said, patting the veteran on his back.

Flippy's eyes widened for a moment then he smiled at the chipmunk. She was right! He needed to press forward!

In the bathroom, Flaky was crying and sobbing with the water in the sink running. All she wanted was one perfect birthday where nothing went wrong. But it was an unfulfillable wish. Nothing ever went right in this town and never will…

'If only Flippy hadn't come… then this wouldn't have happened.' the beautiful porcupine thought.

Why did he even come in the first place? All he does is cause trouble wherever he goes. And he even kissed her! On the cheek, mind you, but still! A kiss is a kiss!

As Flaky cupped her hands and splashed the warm water on her face, the bathroom door behind her opened. She didn't hear it, though, the water was too loud. Flippy entered the room and caught sight of the porcupine girl's face covered in water. The way the droplets shimmered in her lovely fur and quills made the bear's heart melt.

'Oh, boy…' he thought, trying to control his blush.

Flippy pulled himself together and pressed on. He tapped on Flaky's shoulder and she turned around. Her eyes were closed and she was reaching around for a towel.

"Oh, uh-"

But before Flippy could grab one for her, Flaky grabbed his jacket in a small bunch and wiped her face on it. Meanwhile, the soldier was shifting his black eyes around awkwardly while sweat beads formed on his head.

When Flaky's face was clean and dry, she rubbed her eyes before opening them up. And when her vision adjusted, she saw Flippy in front of her. It was then she realized she was still holding his jacket and that she had been using that to dry her face…

How embarrassing!

But Flippy quickly noticed Flaky was about to scream and acted quickly! He pulled her in and placed his paw over her mouth.

"Please don't scream, Flakes!" the lime green Tree Friend pleaded.

The red girl's pupils dilated and shook with fear. This was terrifying to her!

"I'm going to let go," Flippy said calmly, "right… now..."

And he did.

Flaky gasped and stepped away from the veteran, trying to be as cautious as possible. Her heart was pounding in terror and she saw that the door was closed, meaning she was trapped…

"Well, seeing as how we're now in a small space together, I guess this is a good opportunity." Flippy said, stepping closer to Flaky.

"Opportunity? For what?!" the red girl asked, gulping. "Are you gonna kill me or rape me?!"

Flippy gasped and shook his head.

"No! I would NEVER do anything bad to you! At least not on purpose…" the soldier insisted, clenching his fists.

Flaky's eyes widened and then softened. The tone in Flippy's voice sounded like he was… _hurt_. Was _she_ hurting him? Because she was avoiding him and always running away, and that was possibly causing him to feel rejected? Flaky kept telling herself that she had a good reason: To protect herself. But now she was thinking that, maybe it wasn't such a good reason after all?

 _I mean, Cuddles, Lumpy, Toothy, and even Giggles wouldn't leave him even at cost of their own lives… But they're braver than I am! Still, maybe I was being too selfish…_

"Flippy…"

But the bear placed a finger to her lips, silencing her.

"Sh, lemme finish first." he whispered.

"I know that you're worried that I'll snap and Fliqpy will kill you. Even though everyone in this town knows death is never permanent, they still try to avoid dying at all costs. I guess it's just a regular instinct, despite the facts. And if I was you, I'd probably avoid me, too."

Flippy paused and Flaky took this as her chance to respond. After hearing the last part, she had something different to say to the lime green soldier.

"No, you wouldn't… You're brave and strong. Me? I'm just a selfish coward, a weakling."

Flippy looked at the beautiful girl with a sad expression. The more he thought about that, the sooner he came to a solution on what to say. Flaky, meanwhile, felt like she was about to cry. She didn't exactly know why, though. Was she feeling like crying because she was still afraid of Flippy? Or was she feeling bad about being so cruel to him?

Before she could decide what the answer was, she felt a foreign feeling on her head. It was Flippy's paw, petting her…

Flaky felt her heart skip a beat and a pink blush line appeared on her face. It wasn't like this never happened. After all, when they were kids, Flaky got discouraged and upset quite a bit. And Flippy, being kind and encouraging, would often tousle her quills. He wouldn't even care if he got pricked by them, he just continued to do it.

The reason it felt so weird, was because it had been such a long time since he last did it. And Flaky forgot how… nice it felt. Soon, her lips curved into a small smile and her eyes closed.

'Flippy…' she thought, a warm feeling growing in her chest.

When Flippy stopped, he smiled and chuckled at the younger critter.

"Selfish? Coward?" Now that's just funny…" the veteran began.

This caught Flaky's attention. Just what was Flippy saying? Was he saying that she wasn't all that?

"Flaky, you are the most generous, kind, caring, giving, considerate, and loving person I've ever met in my entire life. You've done things like putting birds back in their nests, you've made more friends than enemies, given them gifts and done them favors, why, you even went to the trouble of planning a surprise birthday party for me! Even though you knew the risks. And if that's not brave, I don't know what is!"

Flaky stood there in awe at everything Flippy had just said to her. She had never in her life received such a genuine compliment! Well, at least, not in a long time… Her heart pounded mercilessly inside her chest.

'What is this? Why is my heart… thumping so hard?' the red girl wondered, placing her paw over the burning spot on her chest.

Flippy, meanwhile, was worried. Had he come on too strong? He knew how sensitive and fragile Flaky was, so, it wasn't considered a joke to toy around with her even if it wasn't intentional. He was about to say something, but was cut off when Flaky stepped forward and squeezed her arms around him…

Flippy's cheeks turned pink and his Pac-Man eyes shrunk slightly. He never expected for _her_ to make the first affectionate move, but she did! And Flippy was happy and comfortable… So, he hugged back, gripping her tightly with his strong arms, not wanting to let go…

The hug seemed to last forever until Flaky let go and that was Flippy's cue to do the same. The hug was released and the two critters stood face-to-face. Flaky had two streams of tears on her cheeks and a soft smile.

"Thank you, Flippy…" she whispered with trembling lips.

The veteran bear smiled back and patted his friend's head.

"By the way, I'm sorry I splashed you with water and made you fall backwards into the table. And I'm even more sorry that you got ranch spilled on your head…" he added, rubbing the back of his head.

"It's okay… At least knives didn't fall on me." Flaky replied in her timid voice.

Flippy replied with an awkward laugh.

Then, they decided to go back out to the party. But Flippy stayed behind for a while.

"I'll catch up with you in a minute, Flakes. I just need to catch my breath." the bear assured her.

"Okay," she replied.

When Flaky was gone, Flippy closed the door again and sighed. His face was burning hot for some odd reason, so, he decided to splash some cold water on his face.

After doing just that and drying his face off, Flippy looked in the mirror. He expected to see his reflection, but instead, he saw another bear like him with menacing, yellow eyes and sharp, primitive teeth!

" _Knives falling on her?! Hahaha! She's not just wimpy, she's pretty fuckin' stupid! There weren't even knives on that table."_ the callous soldier jeered.

"Fliqpy…" Flippy cursed in an icy voice.

" _The one and only!"_ the aforementioned doppleganger said in mock excitement.

"What the hell are you doing here? And so suddenly, too. You seemed pretty quiet until now?" Flippy questioned.

" _Oh, I was merely enjoying the pleasant feeling of blood and guts on my body again. After your recent flip out, I killed enough Tree Friends to last me the week!"_ Fliqpy said, rubbing his hands together in glee.

Flippy had to prevent himself from gagging at his evil side's repulsive words. He did NOT understand how they could ever be stuck together! They were so different from each other, after all.

"You're insane, you sick bastard!" he hissed at Fliqpy.

He was trying his best not to puke at the memories of waking up with blood and guts on his body. Even though it happened constantly, he was never used to it! And who would be?! One should never be used to waking up in blood and guts.

"Honestly…" Flippy groaned in annoyance.

" _Honestly, what?~"_ Fliqpy taunted his good side.

"Nothing, I'm not even gonna fucking talk to you, because I can't say anything to you that hasn't already been said. And it wouldn't matter even if I told you over and over, you're never gonna listen anyway." the lime green bear cursed.

Then he turned around and left the bathroom. He hated Fliqpy so much. He made his life a living hell for no good reason. Keyword: _Good._ Oh, Fliqpy had his reason for it. Because he got off on the suffering of others, and Flippy knew it, too. But he did his best to ignore that sickening fact and continued to walk down the hall.

 _Well, one thing is for certain…_

"Hey, Flippy, we were just gonna-"

He cut the birthday girl off by pulling her into his strong arms. She blushed and looked at him curiously.

"F-Flippy?" Flaky stuttered.

 _Fliqpy can do whatever he wants to me… But as long as I live and breathe, he's never gonna get away with doing anything to you. Not ever again…_

* * *

 **Done! Holy crap this chapter was heavy as fuck!**

Shadow: Yeah, you really worked hard on it.

As usual! *smiles as wide as a mile*

 **** **R &R!**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Gifted

After everyone had calmed down, they decided to continue playing the games and it was very fun for them all. And Flaky was starting to feel more comfortable with having Flippy around her. Giggles even took notice of this and she couldn't stop smirking in victory. She really was "the love doctor" of Happy Tree Town.

"Um, so, Flippy?" Flaky spoke up.

"Hm? What is it, Flakes?" he asked.

"I wanted to say that I, um… love… love that you s-showed up." the red porcupine girl said. "And, I'm sorry for not inviting you in the first place…"

Flippy could hear the guilt in his crush's voice and that made him feel bad for her.

"Aw, don't be. After all, it all worked out in the end." the lime green soldier cooed.

He then ruffled Flaky's quills again causing the porcupine to sigh and smile in full content. She had really missed Flippy… She missed seeing him, hugging him, going places with him, hearing his voice, the way he tousled her quills, and she missed the way he always called her "Flakes".

Her heart was pounding like crazy and there was a magenta blush line across her cheeks. She only hoped Flippy couldn't see that. But just to be sure, she embraced him and hid her face in his camo jacket. Flippy was puzzled but didn't protest and returned her affection.

And while Flippy didn't see her blush, Giggles and the others certainly did.

"Oh, my God! Just kiss already!" the pink Tree Friend called to them.

Flippy and Flaky both blushed even more.

"S-Shut up, Giggles!" Flaky squealed.

"Ehhh…." Flippy added in an awkward sounding voice.

He wanted to kiss Flaky really bad but after all that just happened, he knew that he shouldn't pull an asinine move like that. Besides, this wasn't the time or place for that…

It was time for presents and then afterwards they'd eat the cake. Cuddles was being slightly impatient and wanted to get the cake right away. But Giggles assured Flaky that she'd keep an eye on him and make sure her birthday cake was safe.

"Thanks, Giggles. I appreciate it." the red porcupine girl said.

Flippy smiled chuckled. He had a present for Flaky in his hummer but he'd save it for last. It wasn't anything special… at least, he didn't feel like it would be, but he wanted to at least get her something.

 _I just hope she'll like it…_

"Before you all give me my gifts, I need to give mine first." Flaky announced, standing up.

Puzzled, everyone murmured under their breaths.

"My brother's birthday is today as well."

Then, they all chattered in understanding.

'That's right; they're twins.' Flippy thought.

" _Psh! Yeah, I don't know him and even_ _ **I**_ _remembered that! Dumbass…"_

Flippy growled lowly and his blood boiled.

' _Shut up, you!'_ the lime green bear seethed.

Since they shared the same body, Flippy and Fliqpy could communicate through their minds. Sorta like telepathy… It had its benefits and downsides for both of them.

The benefits for Flippy is that only _he_ can hear him. So no one else will hear Fliqpy's snide/creepy/sometimes perverted remarks. And if the two are fighting, which Flippy doesn't like to do, they are able to talk to each other without people thinking he's talking to himself like a crazy person.

The benefits for Fliqpy is that he constantly gets to jeer, pick at, and torment his good doppelganger and watch him writhe like a hermit crab without it's shell on a boiling hot day.

The downsides for Flippy is that he constantly has to listen to his alter-ego's bullshit and his sick, twisted, perverted fantasies. All of it was enough to make the lime green soldier throw up. It was worse than re-watching The Human Centipede over and over again…

The downsides for Fliqpy is that he never gets to openly voice his opinion unless Flippy flips. Although he likes to spend more time inflicting pain on others when he emerges, he still likes to voice his thoughts as any person would. Murderer or not, Fliqpy is a person like everyone else in Happy Tree Town and he sometimes likes to talk.

Now, despite all of that, upsides and downsides, both of them are both very unhappy with their lives in that aspect. But at the same time, they have a slight feeling of happiness for a few reasons. So, they pretty much have bittersweet feelings about this whole conundrum.

When Flaky came back, she was holding a small rectangular present wrapped in dark blue wrapping paper with a birthday card attached to it. She handed it to her brother who smiled pleasantly.

"Thanks, sis," the orange porcupine said.

"You're welcome, bro." Flaky replied, blushing.

Damien took the card off first and read it aloud.

"Damien,

I know we don't see each other very much and since you're going on a big, around the world trip, soon and won't be back for a few years, I thought I'd leave you with this. Have fun and have a happy birthday!

Love, Flaky".

Damien smiled even wider and looked at his twin with puppy dog eyes. He loved his sister so much; she was so sweet and kind. But what did she get him?

To find out, he tore the wrapping paper open and saw that it was a movie! Not just any movie, though. It was a movie that he loved as a kid. It was called "The Labyrinth" and it starred one of his favourite actors/singers, David Bowie.

He couldn't believe it! First his parents got him a travel bag, then Sky drew him a picture of the whole family, and now this?! It was all too much…

"You guys…" Damien said in a low voice.

He then brought his head up and revealed that he was crying.

"I love you all so dang much!"

The whole family then engaged in a group hug. Damien was so happy and swept up he almost didn't want to leave after all. But he had to… Not for a business trip or anything, but, well…

He had always wanted to go on a trip around the world ever since he was a little kid. It was a lifelong dream of his that was finally coming true. And he had such wonderful gifts from his family to take with him.

"Ah, geez…" Damien said, wiping his tears away. "You guys are the best and I'll miss you so much."

Flaky smiled at her brother and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Don't worry, you can always call us anytime." the red porcupine girl assured her twin.

Damien smiled and nodded. He was so happy that he felt like he could die…

(A/N: That was not a good figure of speech to be using in a Happy Tree Friend fanfiction…)

When that was done, it was time for everyone else to give Flaky her birthday presents.

"Me first! Me first!" Cuddles butted in.

Flaky chuckled and sat down in her rocking chair. Cuddles laughed his mischievous laugh and ran over to the table to get his gift for her. Toothy followed him.

While they were getting the gift, Flippy whispered to Giggles and slipped out of the house. Luckily, Flaky didn't notice.

Cuddles and Toothy had both pitched in their allowance to get Flaky a gift. And it was a series of baseball cards featuring all of her favourite baseball players. Like, Babe Ruth, José Canseco, and others.

"Oh, wow, thanks!" the red porcupine girl exclaimed.

Toothy and Cuddles smiled at the birthday girl in response; they were glad that Flaky liked the gift.

Giggles have her gift next. It was a movie! It was the movie "Moana". Flaky remembered seeing that movie in the theaters a few months ago and she couldn't wait for it to come out on DVD. But when it did, she had to pay her bills and therefore couldn't buy it. And now Giggles had gotten it for her?

"Oh, thank you, Giggles!" Flaky said in a gracious tone.

"No prob, Bob." the pink chipmunk replied. "Just make sure to invite me over to watch it soon, okay?"

Flaky nodded and smiled; she was enjoying this so much.

Speaking of enjoyment…

She looked around for Flippy, but she couldn't see him anywhere. That made her a little sad for some reason…

"Hey, Giggles," she spoke up.

"Hmm?"

"W-Where's Flippy?"

Giggles smirked again.

"He'll be right back in; he just needed to get something real quick." she added to the smirk.

Flaky sighed a quiet sigh of relief. For some reason, the thought of Flippy leaving the party upset her. Earlier, she would've been happy about that happening. But now? It would most likely break her heart. And Flaky's heart was very fragile and delicate, so, it would never be a good idea to do that under any circumstances.

The presents kept coming and Flaky felt more and more happy.

Petunia got her a stuffed bear along with another movie. It was a Winnie the Pooh one. Flaky adored that movie as a child, and now she had it again and it made her feel nostalgic all over.

Handy got her a gift card for Dairy Queen along with a birthday card that read, "I might not know you that well, but you still mean quite a deal to me. Happy Birthday, Flaky! From Handy."

(A/N: How he did that without hands is beyond me…)

Cro-Marmot gave her a rectangular box that contained clothes. But not just any clothes: German clothes! This confused her, but she also found it kind of neat that someone would give her something like this. So, she tapped his ice block to say thank you.

Sniffles gave her bubbles to play with.

"But these aren't any plain old bubbles. They're multi coloured! I reworked the basic formula for bubbles into a multi-coloured solution that makes for great fun!" the nerdy Star Trek fan explained.

Nutty giggles his trademark giggles and leaned on his best friend.

"Hehe, you always talk so funny, Sniffles!" he remarked.

Flaky chuckled at the two Tree Friends; they had such an interesting and charismatic relationship. A scientist and a sugar junkie… Who'd have thought that they'd end up being the best of friends? But Flaky thanked Sniffles for the gift and moved on to the next one.

The next one was from Lumpy and The Mole who had helped each other pick out a gift. Since Mole was blind, he would need help seeing what to get for her. So, he asked the first person he bumped into: Lumpy. And the moose had a hard time reading Mole's constantly blank expression but eventually they bumped into Mime and Russell and they helped translate. Mime had recently tried using sign language to talk seeing's how he doesn't speak. And Russell had somewhat understood it and told Lumpy what Mole was trying to ask of him.

And Lumpy didn't know what to get Flaky, and naturally, when Mole picked out one of his own turtleneck sweaters, Lumpy immediately gave him a thumbs up and agreed to it. He still wasn't the brightest Tree Friend around…

And when Flaky saw the aforementioned turtleneck in the package, she chuckled and thanked them. Truth be told, she thought it was a sweet gesture on both Mole and Lumpy's parts. She only hoped it would fit her.

When she stood up to try it on, it actually _did_ fit. It was only slightly oversized and the neck covered most of her face just like on Mole. So, she folded it down several times so it looked like a turtleneck should.

"Aw, you look so cute, Flaky!" Lammy complemented, placing both of her hands on either sides of her face.

Blushing, Flaky removed the turtleneck and sat back down.

Nutty gave his gift next. It was a box of assorted candies that displayed such bright and beautiful colours. She didn't know what else to expect from Nutty, but she thanked him regardless. Even though she wasn't a sugar addict like him, she still loved candy.

(A/N: Everybody loves candy!)

Mime gave Flaky a gift certificate to the movies. Since that was one of his jobs, he was able to get an endless supply of gift certificates right at his fingertips along with delicious popcorn and gummy snacks. Yum!

Flaky thanked Mime for his gift and then the purple deer moved his hands and fingers around in a certain way, implying that he was using sign language. Flaky turned to Russell.

"He said he'd like to accompany you there on his day off, lass." the sea otter told her.

Flaky smiled and turned back to Mime. She nodded her head at him with a big smile to tell him that she'd love that. And he replied back by using the sign language sign for thank you which involved him bringing his hand down from his face.

Then Russell gave his gift. It's was a purple pirate's bandana.

"Me sister left it to me and told me to pass it on as gift to a friend. She always loved giving gifts that kept on passing on to the next owner. What do you think, lass?" Russell explained.

Flaky chuckled and said she loved it. And she did! It matched the turtleneck she had just gotten and it looked pretty comfortable to wear as well. So she tamed her top quills down so they wouldn't poke holes in it and she tied it around her head.

"Yar! That's the spirit, matey!" Russell cheered.

Once all that was done, Flaky's family gave her their presents for her. Sky drew her a picture in a card that contained $5. And there was a message that read, "Happy Birthday, big sister, hope this'll help you in the future! Love, Sky".

Flaky's mom, dad, and brother all agreed to pitch in to buy their gift for her. And when Flaky opened it up, she felt overjoyed. Because inside was a Wii U!

"What?! I just, huh?! But, you guys didn't have to-!"

The red porcupine girl was at an absolute loss for words at this point. And not only that, there was a few games included in the box as well.

"We knew you'd like it," her father chuckled.

"Yes, and we all pitched in. Even Sky did." her mom agreed.

"Yep, she picked the games," Damien said.

Flaky was silent for a while. Her head was hung and she did not move. Everyone looked at her curiously, wondering if something was wrong. But before anyone could ask, she slowly looked up, revealing that she was crying… She was just so happy she didn't know what else to do…

"T-Thank you, everyone. I-I don't know w-what to s-say!" the birthday girl stammered.

She stood up from her spot and gave everyone around the room tight hugs. And she even gave them kisses on their cheeks. She was just so happy!

And at that moment, Flippy walked back in and there was a visible bulge in his coat pocket, meaning he had something in there. When he saw what Flaky was doing, he was about to ask about it, but then Flaky set her eyes on him. He didn't know what she was up to, but then she ran towards him and tried to hug him. Tried to, but in the end, she was too excited that she accidentally tackled the lime green bear to the ground! But she was just so happy that she didn't care that she was in an awkward position with him. She snuggled and cuddled him up!

Flippy blushed a dark red colour and his heart was pounding mercilessly inside of his chest. Then Flaky gave him a kiss on the cheek…

That was when she had snapped out of it…

When she realized that she had gone crazy, she looked around at everyone and then back at Flippy who smiled an awkward half-smile at her. Flaky's face turned magenta and her Pac-Man pupils dilated. Earlier, Flippy had kissed her cheek on accident… Now she kissed _his_ cheek _on purpose_. How embarrassing! It was so embarrassing that she couldn't move again.

"Um! Um! Uuuummm!" the birthday girl stuttered, not sure what to do.

Flippy chuckled and tousled her quills again. Flaky calmed down a little and then sighed contentedly at the nice feeling that it gave her.

'She's so cute…' Flippy thought, tilting his head to the side a little.

'He's so sweet…' Flaky thought, lifting her shoulder up a bit.

Giggles could NOT stop her smirking fest. Everything was working out so well for these two! And she was still happy that Flaky loved the gifts THAT much.

* * *

Oh, this chapter was so much fun to write!

Shadow: I can see that…

R&R!


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Afterwards, Flaky apologized to everyone for going totally crazy and giving them such unnecessary affection; she thought that a simple thank you would've been enough.

"Nonsense! It was so sweet of you, Flakes!" Giggles said, waving her paw nonchalantly.

Flaky's ears perked up at the nickname that Flippy used.

"Hm? Oh, well, Flippy calls you that, so, can I?" Giggles answered, seeing Flaky's gestures. "Unless of course you only want your future sweetheart to call you that!~"

The red porcupine blushed immensely and bared her teeth in frustration.

"F-Flippy is not my future sweethear-!"

But she was cut off when Nutty jittered his way over to her and tapped on her shoulder. She turned around to face the lime green squirrel.

"Can we have cake now?! Please, Flaky?!" he begged.

She looked at him for a moment before smiling and nodding.

"But you have to remember to be calm, because there are others who want cake. And please try not to get all hyper when you eat it."

Nutty nodded and saluted her before dashing off, leaving behind a small wind and a _woosh!_ Flaky chuckled and rolled her eyes. When he saluted her, it reminded her of a certain soldier… And that made her blush.

Then she felt a tap on her shoulder so she turned around to face whoever tapped her. And it was Flippy! Her blush grew.

"Hey, Flakes, can I, um… ask you something?" he inquired, rubbing the back of his head.

"Um, sure. But, can we serve the cake first?" Flaky answered.

Flippy smiled and nodded. Then he grabbed her hand and cradled it in his own. Flaky did not protest and led him to the table where Daisy was lighting the candles.

There were nineteen of them being as Flaky was now nineteen years old.

Then, everyone started singing Happy Birthday to her, causing the beautiful porcupine girl to blush and squirm. This was all so lovely to her. Her birthday was actually turning out to be pretty good after all.

When the song was done, Flaky made a wish and then got ready to blow out her candles.

(A/N: I'm not even gonna tell YOU GUYS what she wished for. Because then it won't come true.)

She took in a deep breath and blew across the cake as hard as she could. When she opened her eyes, there were still two candles lit.

"Ah! That means you're gonna have two boyfriends in your lifetime, Flaky!" an immature Cuddles called out.

"Boyfriends? I thought it was however many candles are still lit, that's how many kids she has?" Toothy asked.

'No, I'm fairly positive that it's boyfriends, dude."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure!"

Flaky cut in on the two boys' bickering.

"Oh, you two, calm down. It doesn't mean either of those things, that's just a silly joke for kids to make at birthday parties. I'm not gonna have two boyfriends in my lifetime. Heh, I'd be lucky if I got even one… And kids? Well, of course I would want them, but who would even be my…?"

Many Tree Friends were appalled by this.

"What?! Of course you'll get a boyfriend and kids, Flaky!" Giggles exclaimed.

"Giggles is right, I mean, look how pretty and attractive you are!" Petunia agreed.

"And with your beauty and personality, you'd make such adorable and kind children!" Lammy added.

All of these comments and compliments made Flaky blush heavily. Flaky's dad, Dwight, sensed his daughter's mood and decided to interfere.

"Ehm, could you please stop embarrassing my daughter, please?" the red porcupine asked awkwardly.

"Aw, come on, she knows we're only playing around with her, right Flaky?" Petunia whined.

Flaky nodded warily and did her trademark nervous laugh. While she knew they were only teasing her, she also knew that they were trying to be "truthful" with her. Truth be told, Flaky didn't truly accept everybody's compliments about her "beauty". Years ago, she grew to appreciate herself as beautiful, but something bothersome makes her think otherwise. Now, that isn't to say that she thinks she's ugly, but when people compliment her, she only pretends to accept them in case they only trick her. Even her friends' compliments she doesn't accept because she's just gotten so used to keeping her walls up that she can't anymore…

Putting that aside, she didn't think she'd ever get a boyfriend. Not that she's desperate for one or anything, but she just didn't see it happening. Which makes it even more awkward for Flippy who is in love with her.

Speaking of which…

"Come on, ask any of the boys here!" Giggles called out.

Flippy's face grew a bright red colour and he bit his green lips.

"Um, oh, uh, I d-don't think that's such a good idea, G-Giggles…" Flaky said, hanging her head so her top quills covered her eyes a little bit.

"Oh, sure it is! Come on, how about you, Nutty, do you think she's attractive? Ya know, in a platonic way?"

Nutty eyed Flaky who just waved her hands back and forth desperately. But the crazy squirrel nodded and giggled like a crazy person.

"Well, sure! I mean, her quills are so shiny it reminds me of the the shine I see on red licorice and that's a type of candy, and I love candy! And Flaky is my friend and I love her too! In a, what word did you use again, pla...ton...ic? Was that it? Yeah!"

Flaky twirled her quills around in a shy way.

"And Cuddles, you're her friend, and so are you, Toothy. What do you guys think?" Giggles continued.

Cuddles and Toothy nodded.

"Yeah, and I'm sure another person here would like to voice his opinion, too." Cuddles added to the nodding.

Giggles caught her ex's hint and eyed Flippy. And he knew what she was gonna do next…

'Oh shit…'

"And how about you, Flippy?~" the pink chipmunk asked smoothly, pushing him towards Flaky. "What do you think about our dear little Flaky?"

Flippy blushed so hard that Flaky could see it.

'No way?!' the birthday girl thought, 'What is he thinking about?!'

Flippy gulped and shook where he stood. He was so nervous right now!

"Um… um, um, um, oh, I mean, uh, well, so that is to say that I… Well, you and I are, um, friends, right?" he managed to say.

Flaky gulped too and nodded nervously.

"Well, then I guess it won't be awkward when I say, uh, I think that, um…. You are the most… b-b-beautiful g-g-g-girl I've ever s-s-seen?"

Flaky gasped and felt her heart flutter around like a little butterfly that wanted to get out of her chest. It was too much for Flippy! He ran out of the room into the backyard.

Giggles chuckled and approached Flaky. She bent down to where her ear would be and whispered, "You know what to do, Flaky."

But before the porcupine girl could ask what that meant, Giggles had disappeared. She was now talking with Petunia and Lammy. And it was clear that she wanted Flaky to go out and talk to Flippy. But did she herself want to do that?

…

Yes, she did.

Outside, Flippy was on his knees and blushing like crazy. Why did he say that?! How imbecile! Now he's probably ruined everything with her…

" _Tsh! Wow, and here I thought you loved that wimp, but now you're running away like the lily-livered wuss you are."_

Flippy didn't respond to his alter-ego's jeering and insults. He was just too troubled and embarrassed right now.

" _Why are you not answering me, you jerk? Are you really that upset? Jesus, why did I have to be stuck together with you?"_

There was a slight crunching of leaves behind them. Flippy didn't hear it, but Fliqpy did. He looked behind them and saw Flaky. She looked to be happy to see Flippy because she was smiling with her puppy dog eyes. It made Fliqpy sick.

" _Hey, don't look now, wuss, but your girlfriend is right behind us."_ the evil soldier pointed out.

Flippy's ear twitched and he looked behind him. When he saw Flaky, he blushed very hard and turned away again.

"Oh, jeez!" the lime green bear whined into his paws.

Flaky put on a smile and walked over to Flippy, kneeling down beside him. She put her hand on his shoulder and chuckled.

"So… um… you really think I'm the most beautiful girl, you've ever seen?" she asked awkwardly.

Flippy was silent for a while before sighing. Then he nodded and looked at her.

"Yes… Your future partner will be very lucky to have you."

Flaky blushed and gasped at this. She still didn't think she deserved to have a partner. But, she heard something in the back of her mind telling her otherwise. And that same voice was saying that there was someone that loved her.

Both critters were silent for a moment before Flippy shifted in place, causing the bulge in his pocket to move, making him remember about his present for Flaky.

"Oh, uh, I got you something. I was gonna give it to you earlier, but, I forgot." Flippy said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the present.

It was a small, rectangular package wrapped in blue wrapping paper. It was about the size of a Kindle and it had a green bow on it and a small card as well. Flaky's eyes widened and took the gift from Flippy's paws. She opened up the small card and it said, "Happy 19th Birthday, Flakes!" in pen.

Flaky opened the wrapping paper and when she saw the tip of it, her tearing movements slowed when she realized what it was. When she got through the rest of the paper, she was now holding a picture frame. And inside the frame was a picture of two small Tree Friends. There was a lime green bear in a dark green t-shirt hugging a red porcupine from behind. The red porcupine girl was wearing a pair of overalls, a light pink shirt, and a light blue ribbon on the side of her top quills.

Flaky recognized these two critters anywhere…

"F-Flippy?" she said quietly and slowly.

She looked over at him. He had given her a picture of them when they were kids… Flippy was blushing and rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.

"I, uh, hope you like it," he said, "I didn't know what else to get you, and I had been meaning to give that to you for 16 years, ever since our first playdate at my house, but I kept forgetting… So, I thought now was as good a time as any to give it to you. Do you remember when my mom took that picture and we weren't expecting it? Man, was that ever embarrassing!"

Flaky lowered her head and said nothing. Flippy grew worried; did she not like it?

"F-Flakes are you o-"

But he was cut off when he saw her trembling and teardrops plinked onto the glass cover on the frame. He also heard a small sobbing noise waft from her throat. Was she crying?

His suspicions were confirmed when she lifted up her head and showed tears streaming from her big, black eyes. She sniffled and shivered. And just when Flippy was about to ask what was wrong, she made the first move! She discarded the picture to the ground, but it didn't break, and threw her arms around Flippy. Her sobs grew louder as she gripped him tighter and tighter still.

The army bear was dumbfounded; why was Flaky crying? He wrapped his arm around her and stroked her long quills comfortingly while using his other arm to support his weight.

"I'm so-sorry! I'm so sorry, F-Flippy!" Flaky cried, gripping him even tighter.

"Sorry, what for?" he asked.

"Everything!~"

Flippy's eyes widened and he looked at Flaky in confusion. What was she talking about?

"I've been such a cruel person to you! I-I thought I was p-protecting myself by pushing you a-away, but I was really just hurting you and being s-selfish and cruel and a total jerk!"

When Flippy heard her say that stuff, he felt his heartstrings being tugged at. He gripped a small bunch of her quills as he was petting them.

"D-Don't call yourself that!" he said, his voice breaking off and tears budding in the corners of his eyes. "I don't blame you for pushing me away…"

Flaky pulled away slightly so their faces were inches apart. "Y-You don't?"

Flippy shook his head and gently stroked her tears away.

"It's completely reasonable. You don't wanna die more than you'd like to, so, you'd use any means you can use. If I was you, I'd do the same."

Flaky blinked and her tears started to fall down her face.

"No you wouldn't…" she said, lowering her head to him. "You're so brave, you would do what everyone else does: Stick around."

" _Yeah, he's so brave that he panicked and hid in his friend's corpse instead of facing his enemies like a man!"_ Fliqpy jeered from above.

(A/N: Headcanon! Flippy can sometimes see Fliqpy as an invisible apparition, much like a ghost, and the same goes for Fliqpy when he's in control.)

Flippy shifted his eyes upwards and glared.

' _Shut up, you jerk! I'm having a moment!'_ he replied telepathically.

" _And I'm ruining it. We're a team!"_ Fliqpy exclaimed sarcastically.

Flippy growled and seethed at his doppelganger, wanting to hit him so badly. Flaky noticed his face.

"What's wrong?" she asked, looking up where he was looking.

She saw nothing.

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing, Flakes." the lime green bear assured her.

He brought her head back down and moved his own head closer. He pressed their foreheads together and chuckled.

"Don't worry about it anymore, okay? I forgive you."

Flaky sighed and blushed happily. She was relieved that he didn't hate her. And so was Flippy.

" _Now_ will you guys kiss?" a chipper female voice called from behind.

Flippy, Flaky, and even Fliqpy looked at where the voice came from and, surprise surprise. It was Giggles. Flippy and Flaky blushed and stood up. Flaky quickly picked up the discarded photo. Fliqpy gagged and made a sick face.

" _Buncha sissies and pansies… Freaking gross flirting, ugh…"_ the transparent bear grumbled under his breath.

Flippy ignored him and went back inside the house; hand-in-hand with Flaky, he smiled happily and contentedly. He now had his friend/crush back. And soon, he would tell her how he felt about her so he could claim her as his own.

Not today, though. He still wasn't sure if she loved him back. In the same way as he loved her, that is.

'Good things come to those who wait.' he told himself.

And he'd wait forever if it meant claiming Flaky as his lover…

* * *

Done! Just one more chapter!

Shadow: Good job, Em.

Thanks, Shadow-kun!

R&R!


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: After the Party

Well, the party went on for a while. They had cake, played some more games, talked for a little bit, and even shared a few laughs. Flippy was relieved that his evil doppleganger didn't make an appearance. Well, to anyone else besides him, anyway. Oddly enough, after they had cake, Fliqpy didn't even speak to Flippy. Which, again, was relieving for the lime green Tree Friend. After the reconciliation with Flaky, he was in no mood to deal with his evil side's bullcrap.

"Goodbye, everyone! Thanks for coming!" the aforementioned porcupine called to her guests.

"Thanks for having me!" Cuddles called back

"Yeah, it was fun!" Lumpy agreed.

"Baa-bye, Flaky." Lammy bleated, "See you on Wednesday for our annual poker match!"

Flaky smiled and re-entered her house where a few people still were.

"Well, we better get back home, sweetie." Daisy told her daughter.

"Yes, but it was fun seeing you again, Flaky." Dwight agreed.

Flaky smiled wider and gave her family hugs and kisses goodbye. She hugged Damien especially hard since he wouldn't be nearby for a few years.

"Have a safe trip, Damien. I love you." she said.

"I love you too, sis. Take care of yourself, okay?" the orange porcupine replied.

Flaky nodded and gave him one last hug.

Giggles, who was still there, stood beside her friend and watched the birthday girl's family drive away.

"So… how was your birthday, Flaky?" the pink girl asked.

"It was the best one ever. Sure there were some things here and there that weren't planned out and there were one or two little issues. But on the whole, it was amazing. I'm glad all my friends were here; and my family as well." she answered.

"Well I for one am very proud of you." Giggles continued.

"For what? " Flaky asked.

"For mending your relationship," she said, locking her fingers together, "it's only a matter of time now."

"Time 'till what?"

"Till you guys get together, of course!"

Flaky's face turned magenta at those words.

"HUH?! Y-y-y-you're still going on about t-this?! I told you! Flippy is j-j-just my f-f-friend!" the red girl stammered.

"And you're still going about that?! Come on, Flaky!" Giggles retorted, grabbing her by her shoulders. "Wake up and smell the pheromones!"

"What does that even mean?!"

"It means stop denying your feelings, for crap's sake! And before you lie and say you're not denying anything, think about these things: Think about the day you first met Flippy, think about what he did for you, think about the words he said to you, think about everything you did for him, think about everything you said to him, think about what you-Ah, screw it! Just think about every moment you two have shared and think about how you felt during all of them!"

Flaky's big eyes widened and she gasped lightly. She did just what Giggles instructed. She didn't plan to, though. It just happened. Just like with anything else in this village, it just… happened. The memories flooded through her mind one by one. Each one filling her with many shapeless emotions and indescribable feelings. Had it really been 16 years since that day? That day when two ordinary critters formed an unlikely friendship...

At the end of it all, the first thing that came to her mind was the veteran bear's pleasant smile and laugh directed towards her. Flaky blinked her large, black eyes and placed her hand to her heart space which felt light, airy, and warm at the same time. Tears prickled in the corners of her eyes and dripped delicately down her face.

"Oh my word…" the birthday girl whispered.

Giggles nodded and smiled with half-lidded eyes.

"I… I love… I love….. Flippy!"

She had done it…. She admitted her feelings that she held for the bear. Though it would've been more appropriate if he had heard it…

Still, she wasn't denying it anymore. She loved him. She truly, truly did. She loved his voice, she loved his kindness, she loved his laugh, she loved his perkiness, and hell, she'd be lying if she said he wasn't handsome! And even if there was still the issue of his PTSD and Fliqpy's constant killing sprees, she didn't care anymore.

Love is an odd thing… It can give you newfound courage and abilities. And right now it was blocking out Flaky's denial and second thoughts. She loves Flippy and that's enough… And Flippy loves her. Even though she didn't know he felt the same way, she had a pretty good feeling that she wouldn't get rejected if she were to confess. She wouldn't do it now, though. It was too soon and she would need time to gather herself up again.

Giggles was about to say something but was interrupted when Flippy walked up to her and Flaky.

"Hey, girls. I just wanted to say goodbye to you." the lime green bear said.

Flaky blushed at the sight of Flippy and then she approached him. He blushed along with her.

"Flaky?" he spoke up.

"Okay… Just, have a safe trip home okay?" she replied, "And Flippy?"

He tilted his head.

"I'm really sorry… I know you said I don't have to be, but I am. I'm sorry I lost touch with you. Really I am."

Flippy made a small noise and then chuckled softly.

"And I'll say it again, I forgive you."

He tousled her quills with his soft hand yet again.

"Let's promise never to lose touch again?" Flaky suggested once the older Tree Friend had stopped rubbing her head.

"Heh, like I'd ever want to lose touch with my oldest friend." he teased, lightly booping her nose.

Flaky blushed and tried to hide her smile from him. But she failed and Flippy saw. He couldn't contain himself anymore and gave her another strong, powerful hug. Only this time, she _immediately_ returned it with zero hesitations. All the while inhaling his scent. He smelled of flowers and an un-nameable smell she had smelled at the library several times.

Of course he smelled that way. He and Petunia had grown flowers in his backyard in the past, and he did work at the library.

After they hugged enough, he gave her one last smile and head pat before walking past her.

"Nice to see you again, Giggles." he told the pink chipmunk, giving her a quick hug as well.

"And thanks for convincing Flaky to let me stay." he whispered into her ear.

"You're welcome," she whispered back.

Flaky watched Flippy walk down the path leading away from her house and towards his own. She smiled and sighed in a twitterpated tone. And Giggles noticed it too, so, she gave Flaky a knowing smirk along with an elbow nudge.

"Hmm?~" she hummed smugly.

"W-What?" Flaky asked.

"Oh, nothing…" Giggles lied in a sing-song voice.

The pink chipmunk then stole a glance at her watch and saw the time.

"Oh, my stars; I have to get home! My mom was expecting me to be home 15 minutes ago." she exclaimed, straightening her bow.

"Ah, sorry for keeping you here longer." Flaky mumbled apologetically.

"Don't be, it was my choice and fault, not yours. Besides, it's no big deal, really." Giggles assured her friend in red.

"Then why did you make it sound like it was?"

"Oh, well, it _is_. For my mom anyway."

"How is Gigi, by the way?"

"Mm, she's good. I wanted her to come along, but she was busy with work."

"Ah, that's okay. But tell her I said hi, okay?"

Giggles nodded and gave her friend a quick hug goodbye before skipping away merrily.

Flaky chuckled and sighed contentedly. She had had a good birthday at last. And not only that; she had realized her hidden feelings for Flippy. Now, that isn't to say that she isn't scared of Fliqpy anymore. Quite the opposite, actually. She was still terrified of him beyond all belief. At the same time though, she pitied him. She only wished he could feel how everyone else feels. Or FEEL at all! Maybe then she and Flippy wouldn't have any obstacles between their love.

'Oh, well…' Flaky thought as she went back into her house. 'I guess it can't be helped. No one's love is perfect, I guess.'

Meanwhile…

Flippy was smiling like a complete doofus and humming "Crazy in Love" while bounce-walking down the path towards his house. He was happy and thrilled that he had Flaky back. It was only a matter of time, he thought.

"Just a matter of time…" he said out loud.

" _Time 'till what? Time 'till you finally grow a pair and realize that you've been such a pansy this whole time?"_ a deep voice cut into his trance.

Flippy stopped in his tracks and looked beside him. He saw a transparent Fliqpy floating beside him. He was on his back with his arms behind his head, legs criss-crossed, and his facial expression appeared to be smug and annoyed at the same time.

"Well, well, well… Hello, Fliqpy." Flippy greeted his alter-ego rather cheerfully.

Since he was out on his own, unless you count Fliqpy which he, himself, didn't, he didn't need to talk to him telepathically this time around.

"How are you this fine evening?" Flippy continued as he proceeded to walk down the path again, Fliqpy floating along with him.

" _Tsh, I'm pissed off. And why the hell are you being so nice and pleasant towards me? Usually you're saying fun things like "I hate you." or "Get out of my life, the war is over and I don't need you!" or "Shut up and leave me alone, you sick bastard." And now you're acting like we're old friends or some shit. What the hell is with that?"_

Flippy shrugged his shoulders and jumped over a puddle.

"Dunno, I guess I'm just happy, is all." he added.

" _Well, can you stop? It's making me sick."_ Fliqpy gagged.

"Stop what? Being happy or being nice towards you?" Flippy asked.

" _Both! When you're happy and laughing like a girl, it makes my my fuckin' teeth hurt. And it's not natural for you to be nice to me. All this nicey niceness and happy sappiness is rotting my entire existence."_

"So you're saying if I continue to be happy and nice to you, you'll fade away and stop existing?"

" _In your dreams, Casanova…"_

"Okay, first of all, you exist even in my dreams. Second, while the lovey-dovey part is true about me, I only have one girl I love like that and that's Flaky."

" _If that's true, then why did you go on a date with the whore?"_

"Huh? You mean Giggles?"

" _Same difference."_

"Firstly, don't call her a whore, secondly, I only did that to make myself feel better about Flaky. Because I thought she'd never wanna be with me. And the entire time I was on that date, I was trying imagine it was Flaky instead. And besides, Giggles can never keep a partner, because she truly loves someone else. She dates so many other people because she's afraid to tell her real crush that she loves her. We basically do the same things when it comes to the ones we love."

Fliqpy groaned and tried not to vomit.

" _Love, schmove. It's all sissy stuff. … So then it's perfect for you!"_

Well, Fliqpy had expected his good half to say something along the lines of, "I'm not a sissy!" and then he could have an argument with him for personal amusement. But Flippy never replied…

This upset him greatly.

He looked over at Flippy who was still wearing that dumb, cheesy grin. And his eyes were still shifted upwards at the sky. He was so twitterpated that there were practical toon hearts floating around his head.

Fliqpy tried numerous times to get his attention, but nothing worked. The evil bear was getting angrier and angrier by the minute. Finally, he figured out how to get his good half's attention. He smirked and chuckled darkly.

Flippy was still humming when he suddenly felt a sharp pain go through his wrist. He yelped and stopped in his tracks again. When he turned around to see what was going on, he saw Fliqpy digging his nails into his own wrist, making it leak blood. Transparent blood. Some of their senses were connected, so, if one of them got hurt, the other could feel that pain in their shared subconscious.

Flippy glared at his alter-ego and growled.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" he snapped.

" _You wouldn't listen to me when I was trying to get your attention. I was talking to you!"_ Fliqpy answered.

"Um, I would hardly call "trying to start a fight with me for your own amusement" talking."

" _Ugh, whatever…"_

Flippy sighed and looked at Fliqpy's transparent wrist. It was still bleeding. He continued to stare at it until Fliqpy noticed he was doing so.

" _What the hell are you looking at?"_ he sneered.

"Doesn't that hurt?" Flippy asked, pointing to the wound.

Fliqpy said nothing. He looked down at his wrist and then back up at Flippy. He did that a few times before ripping some cloth off of his own sleeve and wrapping it around his wrist.

" _Tsh, why do you even care?"_ he said at last.

"Dunno," the green bear replied to the other one, "I guess it was just… Nevermind."

Fliqpy watched his good side curiously before shaking his head and regaining his persona.

" _Ugh, you're such a pansy… Just keep going."_

Flippy sighed.

"I'll only keep walking because _I_ want to. Not because you told me to." he added to the sigh.

True to his word, he continued on the path leading to his house.

Later…

Flippy had arrived home and decided to get to bed. He was rather exhausted after all that partying. He removed his beret and coat and put them in a safe place. He opened his drawers and picked out a pair of pajamas.

" _Why do you even bother to put PJ's on when you don't even have anything to cover up in the first place?"_ Fliqpy asked, floating on his back with his arms behind his head and his legs crossed.

"Because I feel uncomfortable sleeping without some kind of clothing on me." the good doppleganger answered as he pulled the green top on first. "Besides, these are really soft and comfortable for sleeping in."

He pulled the bottoms on as well and smoothed out his dark, lime green hair. He chuckled at how the bangs flawlessly swung as he strummed his fingers across them. He climbed into his bed and snuggled his legs under the covers. He looked on the side of his bed where there was a picture of him and Flaky standing side-by-side. Only they were grown-ups in this one. It was taken shortly after he came back from the war, so, he was still covered in bandages.

Chuckling, he kissed his index and middle finger then touched the picture where Flaky was.

"Goodnight, Flakes. I love you so much, and happy birthday." he whispered.

" _Ugh, just shut up, you twitterpated wussy."_ Fliqpy groaned, taking a spot beside him on the bed.

The evil bear hugged his knees to his chest and put his head down so his face wasn't visible.

"Why should I? I'm happy and content."

" _Because of that girl?"_

"Yep,"

" _And you love her with all your heart?"_

"Yes… why?"

" _Just making sure for next time."_

"Next time? What do you mean, 'next time'?"

Fliqpy just grinned slyly and darkly.

" _Next time you flip out and she's around, I'm not gonna knock you out in our subconscious. I'm gonna let you witness the process of how I'm gonna torture her!"_

Flippy flinched slightly and glared at his alter-ego.

" _Hm, what should I do? I know! I'll kidnap her and cuff her to the bottom of a bed and electrocute her like I did to you during our 'battle', then I'll cut her stomach open and pull out her organs. Starting with the heart, of course. So that way I can cut it in half. Oh, how 'heart-breaking' ey, Flippy?"_

The aforementioned Tree Friend scoffed.

"Yeah, like I'm gonna let you do that."

" _I know you will,"_ Fliqpy continued to jeer, " _Not willingly, of course, but still. You'll just fail to stop me like always."_

"No I won't!" Flippy asserted. "Because I'm growing stronger from the love of my friends! Flaky, too!"

" _You really think so?"_

Fliqpy raised his eyebrows curiously.

"I know so! I can feel it and see it."

" _Then you should for the novocaine to wear off, because you're clearly numb, and you should visit a proctologist to see if you can have your head removed from your own ass, because you're clearly blind."_

Flippy stared at his alter-ego for a moment before chuckling lightly.

"Novocaine… Such a good song. I should've gone to see Fall Out Boy when they were here. I heard they died, though. But of course, they came back to life. I only hope that didn't scare them too much. I want them to come back another time."

Fliqpy had a quizzical expression on his twisted face. Flippy smirked in victory.

"Heh, whatsamatta? Surprise that what you said didn't affect me this time?" the latter teased.

Fliqpy didn't respond.

"I told ya; I'm getting stronger and more resistant! You won't win against me this time, Fliqpy." Flippy continued to cheer.

Fliqpy didn't want to admit it, but he was actually growing a bit nervous at this point. Usually, Flippy would snap after he insulted him. But this time, he went on a completely different topic. That NEVER happened before! Was he really becoming resistant?

'No! He's weak, and he'll always be weak!' the evil bear told himself, hoping Flippy didn't hear it.

Well, if he did, then he probably didn't care because he spoke nothing of it. He only looked over at the clock on his wall and yawned.

"Well, it's late, I better get some sleep." he told himself before turning to his doppleganger and saying, "And not that it really matters to me, but you should get some sleep, too."

"Why?" Fliqpy asked.

"Because you look like shit," Flippy replied, laying down and covering up.

"Just like always…"

Fliqpy's face flushed in anger and his yellow eyes shrunk.

"Oh, fuck you, Flippy!" he snapped.

Flippy chuckled playfully in victory and then sighed happily. He quickly drifted off to sleep and started snoring his adorable snore.

Fliqpy didn't lay down and sleep. He simply growled lowly and glared at the sleeping bear beside him. How dare he say such things to him? How dare he not react the way he wanted him to react? How dare he be immune to his mind games?

 _How. Dare. He._

"Tsh! This is merely an inconvenience. So enjoy this while you can, Flippy." Fliqpy cursed, clenching his fists, "Because it's not gonna last. I'll win against you just like always. I'll hold victory in front of you, just within your reach, and then snatch it away before you can grasp it. And soon, I'll take control of you _permanently_ … Your friends lives will be mine to claim whenever I desire. And that includes your little "girlfriend". Just you wait…"

Fliqpy's lips curved into a smirk which then transitioned into an evil smile which soon molded into an even scarier one with his sharp, inhuman teeth.

 _Just… you… wait…_

* * *

Done! I actually wanted to finish the whole story before posting it. It was a pain, but it was also worth it.

Shadow: Good job, Em! Now make sure you update your other stories too!

I will, I promise!

R&R!


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